Under 15 Boys
Matches
Sun 15 Sep 2019
Horsham Rugby Club
Under 15 Boys
Tries: T Elliott, H Knifton, S Henderson (4)Yellow Carded: C Bouch
43
14
Cranleigh
The Girls are watching

The Girls are watching

Shane elliott16 Sep 2019 - 14:40
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.horshamrufc.com/te

Horsham U15 V Cranleigh

The Girls are Watching!
On an almost perfect day for rugby Horsham U15’s got their 2019-2020 campaign underway, with Cranleigh as our first opponents. In recent years we’ve had some tough matches with Cranleigh and I recall it was only some well worked moves at the death that saw us over the line last season. As I’ve mentioned already the lads have come back with exactly the attitude a coach wants to see and the sessions we’ve run have seen them working hard. However with a new game plan, some new players and some areas we’ve not been able to cover I was wondering how this would convert into the game.
With 27 players to juggle ensuring all the boys got a fair crack at the whip takes a bit of planning. So I had a sheet which split the game into four quarters and had managed to come up with something that allowed all the boys to get a good run of at least 30 mins.
The first quarter was a bit scrappy with a lot of rustiness and Horsham determined to practice their tackling. Cranleigh were pinned into their own half with their very vocal travelling support encouraging their every effort. However the persistent and aggressive Horsham defence kept forcing turnovers but then subsequently giving away a penalty and handing the ball straight back. In years past we’ve all seen this kind of strong start only then for the opposition to break out and run the length of the pitch. Not today, after forcing another turnover, pressure near the line saw Toby driving hard and cross for the first try of the season. The conversion effort by Jake drifted just wide.
With 15 mins on the clock it was time for the first scheduled changes. I think the boys coming on had been able to see where we were letting ourselves down coupled with the confidence gleened from the first score saw the most prolific period of the match. The forwards were starting to get over the gain line and crucially keep hold of the ball. Coupled with some strong, straight running at pace gave Harry the space every winger wants and his arching run capped a fine team effort under the posts. Converted by Harvey Brock. Then it was time for the Hurricane Henderson show, the forwards were able to set up a constant and go forward platform. Then good delivery from George moved on without drift from Harvey and some lovely floated passes from Max into the path of the on rushing Sam unlocked the defence. Sam had the pace to finish off often with support outside which on another day we may need to use. Tyler was also a constant threat from fallback standing in well for the injured Finn Suart. This was probably the most fluent I’ve seen us play. So three tries to Sam and a conversion from Harvey and Harry a piece.
Halftime 31-0
Cranleigh must have had the rocket put under them at half time as they can out the blocks strongly whilst Horsham were perhaps resting on their laurels thinking the work was done. However the lads were still defending well but no team can withstand the constant flow of penalties against them and eventually a slipped tackle after some resolute line defence saw Cranleigh score. The next try also went to Cranleigh when a rather telegraphed pass was well intercepted as we attempted to go wide in our own half.
With the game at 31-14 I was able to make the final substitutions and Horsham effectively ended the competition. As is normally the case this started with some strong defensive work, this time Codie and Harry. The resulting scrum saw Horsham move the ball with a now familiar fluency and Sam scored again. 38-14. A cross field kick by Jake was collected by Sam and from the resulting field position the ever hardworking and pack leader Lewis smashed over from a reasonable way out. It’s always great when one of the props scores. The final minutes eeked out with Chas being sinbinned from our constant offsides and Jake putting in a crunching tackle in midfield. Final score 43-14.
So overall a very pleasing run out for Horsham. All the boys were able to blow away the cobwebs and we have some clear areas we will need to work on over the coming weeks. Callum McPhie and Rooster applied themselves very well impressing both me and their team mates. Both have shown great application for the game. Callum has worked hard off season attending all the fitness sessions and a regular attendee at Park Run whilst Riley has become a real student of the game taking on board coaches feedback. Sam capped a fine performance with four trys but the whole team had to do their bit to get the ball to him. As a team the scrummage needs tightening – and we could do with some more of the stronger lads stepping up for a go at prop. Both Lewis and Ben stayed all game as our specialist props. On the pick and drive we need to work on the various techniques to prevent ball loss. The offsides need addressing and this should be straight forward. We’ll see!!
A few things to reflect on. The boys being there on time sends a massive signal to each other about readiness. We are asking different boys each week to say a few words before the match. Well done Billy for getting the first difficult one done, I’ll have a word with you about who should go next ;).
I’m trying to pull together a players charter which will include things like this but will need to be endorsed by the team. If they haven’t contributed to the survey I sent out recently please can you ask them to do so. https://forms.gle/hF4yyoa5dNYRHfa68
A big thanks for the delicious chilli to Nicola and Julie and Sarah for her excellent note taking!

Match details

Match date

Sun 15 Sep 2019

Kickoff

10:30

Meet time

09:30
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Shirt sponsor - Mansell McTaggart